Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff-career-high 42 points Saturday and Oklahoma City beat Phoenix 121-109 to take a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. The Thunder guard did it in 38 minutes, and by the end the Suns were still changing bodies on him in hopes of slowing a scorer who had been averaging 34.7 points in the series.
Gilgeous-Alexander was nearly perfect in the areas that usually decide playoff games. He hit all eight of his shots in the paint, made 14 of 15 from 2-point range and went 11 of 12 at the line, while also adding eight assists against three turnovers. Phoenix started Collin Gillespie on him and later used Oso Ighodaro to pick him up full court late in the first half, but the changes did not keep the ball out of his hands for long.
Jordan Ott said Phoenix tried different matchups and tried to take Gilgeous-Alexander out of the play, but the Thunder star said the approach did not change his mindset. “Regardless of who’s out there, I get to go out there and play my game,” he said, adding that his coaches and teammates do a good job of letting him operate in his space. On a night when Jalen Williams was sidelined for the indefinite future and Chet Holmgren played through foul trouble, Oklahoma City still had enough around its point guard to keep control of the game.
Caruso said Gilgeous-Alexander is starting to think the game more rather than relying only on athletic ability and skill, a step he said can lift a player to another level. Holmgren said the performance looked ordinary by Gilgeous-Alexander standards, except for the stat line that showed 15 makes on 18 shots. That is the kind of production that can turn a series quickly, and it is why the Thunder are now one win from closing out Phoenix.
For more on elite postseason scorers without a championship, see Paul George tops all NBA Finals-less players in postseason scoring.